In
our society alcohol is a condoned drug. To many, smoking is a
disgusting habit and smoking
marijuana is and should remain illegal in the U.S.
Many argue that alcohol, on the other hand, is an innocent
indulgence.

However, vidence continues to mount about
the dangers
of overindulging in ethanol, the key component in alcohol, and a
substance that is mildly toxic to the human body. A new study
published in
the journal Pediatrics
has been released by the Harvard Medical School in Boston indicating
that teenage drinking dramatically increases a young woman's risk of
developing breast diseases later in life.

The study found that
young women who drank a lot – daily or nearly every day -- during
their teenage years were five times as likely to develop a benign
breast disease. Benign breast diseases include conditions like
fibroadenoma, a noncancerous tumor.

And that's not all, says
study co-author Catherine Berkey, a biostatistician at Harvard
Medical School. She states,
"Our study may suggest that teen drinking increases the risk for
breast cancer, whether in all females or in those who go on to
develop BBD, but longer-term follow-up is certainly
required."

Statisticians and medical professionals are
calling the study significant as it marks the first time that teenage
girls were questioned about their drinking habits and then followed
up years later. Previous studies looking at breast cancer had
relied on researchers questioning adult women about their teenage
drinking habits, which is thought to be a less accurate
technique.

The "Growing Up Today Study" enrolled
6,899 women when they were 9 to 15 years old and then followed up
when they were between 16 to 23 years old and 18 to 27 years old.
Of the teens, 147 reported having a breast disease, with 67 cases
having been confirmed by biopsy. The highest correlation was
among teens who drank the most frequently, but even teens who only
drank once or twice a week were 1.5 times more likely than their
peers to suffer from breast disease at a young age.

Professor
Berkley comments, "I suspect there may be some small additional
BBD risk for even small amounts of alcohol consumed during
adolescence."

As they say, correlation does not equate to
causation. However, researchers also think they have a good
idea how the alcohol is causing increased rates of breast cancer.
While alcohol itself is mildly poisonous to the human body and can be
mildly carcinogenic, the true danger lies in a secondary effect, they
say. Drinking alcohol elevates estrogen levels in growing
teens, which raises the risk of problems with the mammary glands,
which undergo rapid growth during the teenage years.

Dr.
Patricia Ganz, director of cancer prevention and control research at
the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center at the University of
California, Los Angeles comments, "For me, this is not a
surprise. I wouldn't scare (teens) and say, 'You are going to
get breast cancer if you drink.' [But] certain forms of BBD [do]
increase the risk of breast cancer. [And] the public health message
is, these young girls shouldn't be drinking anyway."